1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gob delivery apparatus for the transportation of gobs of molten glass from a gob feeder into molds of one or more glassware forming machines. More particularly, the invention pertains to such delivery devices having a curved scoop, a downward sloping trough, and a curved deflector from which the gobs exit into a mold.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, glass gobs move in freefall from a pair of gob shears of the gob feeder into the scoop of the delivery apparatus. The delivery apparatus directs the gobs to a glass mold. In one known gob delivery system of this type, U.S. Pat. No. 1,575,370, a gob distributor comprises an upper scoop portion and a lower scoop portion (page 1, lines 102 and 103), with the scoop portions being swivellable by means of a bearing ring about a vertical axis of a gob outlet. The upper scoop portion is tiltable downwards about a horizontal axis of a standard of the bearing ring in the case of a malfunction, thereby allowing subsequent gobs to freely fall through the bearing ring, a base and a frame into a cullet silo. The lower scoop portion is comparatively long to be able to charge the different troughs with gobs in succession. Consequently, the dwelling time for the gobs in the upper and lower scoop portions is undesirably long, limiting the number of cuts per minute which the shears can perform and consequently limiting the output of the machine.
A very similar gob delivery system is known from DE Auslegeschrift 1024681. There again, an upper scoop portion which can be raised and lowered about a horizontal axis, and a comparatively longer lower scoop portion are provided. It thus has the same disadvantages as remarked upon in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 1,575,370. This publication is not directed to the individual elements of the gob delivery system, but to an overlay on the scoops and on the troughs in order to improve the sliding properties of the gobs in the gob delivery system.
Another known gob delivery system of the type first referred to above is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 1,911,119 where a structure is provided in quadruplicate in order to supply gobs to four sections (FIG. 2) of an I.S. glassware forming machine. Each delivery system (FIGS. 1 and 4) comprises an individual scoop which is movable radially (FIG. 2) from the gob feeder (FIG. 1) with reference to the gob outlet. The upper end of each trough can be raised and lowered about a horizontal pivot shaft (FIG. 1) of a holder which is fixed relative to the machine. The lower end of each trough rests on the setting device of a holder, formed as a setting screw (FIG. 1). The deflector is fixed to the holder at two connecting points. The holder is adjustable in a horizontal plane by means of two setting screws (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the setting device which are arranged at 90.degree. to each other. The disadvantages of this system are the high structural cost for the scoop and their drive mechanisms (FIGS. 2 and 4). Also, each trough is movable only in one vertical plane leading to consequential alignment faults with the deflector upon lateral adjustment movement of the deflector. Another disadvantage is that with increasing numbers of sections of the I.S. glassware forming machine, the troughs would strike upon one another at their upper ends. They therefore would have to be tapered or thinned at the upper end, thus impairing the optimum trough profile. As in the previously described systems, this system also has relatively long scoops. Moreover, the system design does not allow for a shortening of the scoops, since, particularly with a high number of sections for each IS glassware forming machine, the troughs have to be correspondingly lengthened at the top in the direction towards the scoops. This is only possible to a limited extent, since then the upper ends of the troughs come into contact with one another laterally. This applies particularly for those troughs which are associated with the outermost sections of the IS glassware forming machine.
Attempts have been made to overcome this problem by laterally tapering or narrowing the upper ends of the troughs which would otherwise come into contact with each other. By such tapering, however, the already limited wall thickness of the troughs is further reduced. For certain trough profiles, the tapering may even remove the upper part of the trough profile. Both of these modifications to the upper end of the troughs are undesirable.
For gob delivery apparatus which have a small freefall height, the dwell time of the gobs in the scoop is comparatively long because the speed of the gobs is relatively slow. The scoops should be kept comparatively short. In the case of short scoops, the transit time of the gob is minimized, thus allowing for a correspondingly high gob cutting rate.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved gob delivery apparatus.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.